1941 — June 29, Cabin Cruiser Don Explodes and Burns off Bailey Island, ME — 37
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 9-24-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–37 Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Search Goes on For Victims.” July 3, 1941, p. 7.
–37 Lowell Sun, MA. “Boat That Carried 37 to Death Sunk Three Times…Decade.” 7.2.1941, 1
–37 NFPA Quarterly. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” Vol. 35, N. 2, Oct 1941, 172.
Narrative Information
National Fire Protection Association: “June 29, 1941, Bailey Island, Maine. Burns on the bodies of the 20 men and 17 women which were washed ashore in the vicinity of this island, and charred bits of wreckage convinced authorities that Maine’s worst coastal tragedy of the century, that of the cabin cruiser Don, resulted from an explosion followed by fire on the small vessel. The catastrophe was neither seen nor heard by anyone on the mainland, for fog shielded the boat from view. None of the party of 37, which was headed for a picnic on Monhegan Island, was found alive.” (Quarterly NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” Vol. 35, N. 2, Oct 1941, p. 172.)
Newspapers
July 1: “Harpswell, Me., July 1. – (AP) – The Coast Guard’s Portland port captain tonight attributed to a ‘very powerful explosion,’ the loss of the cabin cruiser Don and 37 lives in fog-choked Casco Bay. Lieut. Thomas J. Sampson said there was ‘no question of fire and an explosion’ aboard the 44-foot cruiser, freighted with a merry crowd of week-end picnickers from several inland Maine communities.
Before darkness forced postponement until tomorrow of a gruesome hunt for bodies, the sea had given up the bodies of 11 victims. Although there was no official passenger list available, a checkup here and in Rumford placed 35 in the group….” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Believe Blast Wrecked Don.” July 2, 1941, 1.)
July 2: “Harpswell, Me., July 2 (INS) – With 11 bodies recorded, salvage craft today zig-zagged over Casco bay for the remainder of a picnic party of 37 men and women who died in the explosion of the 44-foot cabin cruiser Don.
“Harpswell, Me., July 2 (AP) – The 44-foot motorboat Don was pictured today by State Fisheries Warden John Stevens as a jinx ship that was ‘overcrowded’ when it exploded and sent 37 men and women picnickers to death on Sunday…. Declaring the Don had ‘sunk three times in the past decade’ only to be raised, Stevens told newsmen the craft was ‘topheavy’ and carried 150 gallons of gasoline, some in cans on deck, when it set out on its last voyage to Monhegan Island, 40 miles away. He added that it was inadequately equipped with life preservers for the party of Rumford and Mexico, Me., residents.
“None of the first nine recovered bodies, two men and seven women, wore life preservers when they were picked up yesterday in the waters or along the shores of Casco bay….
“From Albert Foster, brother of one of the victims, came the story of how he had helped Capt. Johnson repair a gasoline tank two days before the party sailed. Foster contended pressure in the 300-gallon tank blew out a valve several times and that he and the skipper soldered on a brass vent to relieve the pressure. It was Foster’s belief that the vent worked loose, permitting gasoline to spill and causing a fire menace….
“Rev. J. E. Herrick, youthful Methodist pastor of Bailey island, said the ‘old boat was locked in ice all last winter.’ ‘This spring,’ he said, ‘it drifted around loose and ws not cared for. It wasn’t fixed up at all until two or three weeks ago and then it was a patch job. This should not reflect on the rest of our Bailey island pilots because they are great seamen. One of our boys, Orrin Linscott, warned Johnson as much as two years ago that they didn’t consider him one of them and that they wouldn’t until he got some good gear’.” (Lowell Sun, MA. “Boat That Carried 37 to Death Sunk Three Times…Decade.” 7.2.1941, 1.)
July 3: “One lesson that might be learned from the wrecking of the Don and the loss of some 35 people from the town of Rumford [Maine], is that it is safer for a large picnic party to use several boats rather than but one large enough to accommodate them all.” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Kennebec, ME. “The Wreck of the Don.” July 3, 1941, p. 12.)
Sources
Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Search Goes on For Victims” [Cabin Cruiser Don] July 3, 1941, 7. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=30650893
Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “The Wreck of the Don.” July 3, 1941, p. 12. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=30650892
Lowell Sun, MA. “Boat That Carried 37 to Death Sunk Three Times in Decade.” July 2,1941, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=62146578
National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in Which There was Loss of Life.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 35, No. 2, Oct 1941, p. 172.